WHEN do you determine what your true weight is?

I've always heard to weigh yourself once a week at the same time. (I.e. before a meal at a certain hour of the day wearing the same type of clothes) Well I only have seven lbs left to lose (7 of 30 that is) and it's becoming more difficult. So now I find myself checking my weight almost daily in the morning before I workout. The scale fluctuates daily by as much as two pounds.

Question: Am I just driving myself crazy by checking so often? How do I know when I achieved my goal - as soon as it hits 175 for example? Or do I need to weigh my goal weight for a few weeks to know I accomplished my goal?

I weigh myself everyday, first thing in the morning.  That way I don't have anything to blame, and I consider that my true weight.  If you are going to weigh yourself everyday, you can't be too compulsive about it, the numbers do jump around a little.  Now if I was up a little, I don't stress.  I will start to stress if it stays up consistently or continues to climb.  But because I weigh daily, I feel I have better control of things before they get out of hand.  

I weigh myself daily, and I know that it varies day-to-day, so it doesn't bother me.  I would say you have reached your goal when you are comfortable with your body.  The number isn't important.

My goal weight is a number, and I'm working towards it, but if I find that 3 or 5 or 8 pounds more than that feels good on my body, and I feel healthy and strong and my jeans fit nice.  I'll stop. 

On the other hand, if I get there and find that I want to lose a bit more... I'll keep going, as long as it is still a healthy BMI that I am working towards.  

I am six pounds away from my official goal so I can relate.  I used to weigh myself every day but have relaxed a little in the past few weeks.  I have only been weighing in once a week and sadly, the scale hasn't moved.  I guess I could consider that a positive since it hasn't moved up either.

I would give you the advice of trying not to focus too much on the darn scale.  Go more by how you feel and how your clothes fit.  If it takes a little longer to lose the last seven pounds, thats ok.  Just know that you will get there eventually and consider this time period as practice to maintain the loss.  Good luck!

i aim for about once a week, and only weigh myself in the morning when i FEEL relativly skinny and if i didnt binge the day before. that way, if i do have a weight i'm not too happy with, i still dont feel as bad about it.

Original Post by international_chick:

i aim for about once a week, and only weigh myself in the morning when i FEEL relativly skinny and if i didnt binge the day before. that way, if i do have a weight i'm not too happy with, i still dont feel as bad about it.

 LOL the bolded is especially true in my case! I hardly weigh myself otherwise :p

I check about everyday too but Instead im gonna check every 2 days.Its hard to see myself not lose a pound,I've lost 5 pounds in less then a week in my diet/exercise plan,despite of all the work i've put in.

I weigh myself every morning after I pee.  That way I am empty and good to go.

The sad truth is that, assuming your scale is accurate, your "true" weight is whateever it reads when you weigh yourself.  In other words, you weigh what you weigh.  The good news is that your "true" weight varies considerably, by a few pounds or more,  throughout the day and day to day, depending on how much food you have eaten, how much water you drink and retain, and how much waste you expel.  What I am trying to say is that there is no "true" weight but the best you can do is measure your weight under as close to the same conditions each time as possible. 

Nothing wrong with measuring daily if that helps keeps you motivated.  However, it the daily fluctuations bum you out and don't help you stay focused, then maybe weighing in at a lesser frequency would help.

I weigh myself daily but I know my weight can fluctuate as much as 4-5 lbs from one day to the next depending on how much water weight is in my system. I consider my true weight to be the lowest point throughout the week. 

My reasoning is that day to day fluctuations are caused by water and food that is still in your system. This is stuff that is going to be eliminated, so I don't consider it part of my body (muscle, fat, bone, cartilage, and so on). Therefore your lowest weight has the least of this extra stuff included, making it the most accurate measurement of the true bodyweight.

As far as reaching my goal weight though, I have one day of the week that is the official weigh in day for goals tracking. I know I will reward myself the second time the scale shows me below my goal weight, but I'll probably try to keep up a calorie deficit for at least a few weeks after that to make sure I don't relapse into past bad habits.

I weigh myself once every few months. I don't have a scale at school, so I only weigh in when I go home for a break, and, I don't know, but the system works really well for me. I bought a little cheap-o, five-dollar scale a few months ago, and at first I did well, only weighing myself once a week or so, but soon it was two or three times, then every day, and then even multiple times in the same day. Not to be too graphic, but I didn't like the pressure of freaking out about the physical weight of everything I ate, and even counting bm's. So now, my scale is sitting on the top shelf at the back of my closet, and I'm back to once every few months. This way, the one number I get at home is it, and I'm done--plus, it's nice to see 10 or 15 lbs every time you get on the scale, even if it takes you three months to get there.

I check daily, but I only log my Saturday morning weight.  Don't freak if you dont lose a pound every day.  I went from 304 in January to 280 in early April and sat on 280 for a while, like a week or two, then, in the last two weeks, I am down to 269 this morning.  It comes in spurts and it stabilizes.  Just keep putting in the work and it will come off.  My mindset has completely changed the past two weeks.  and it will probably be me back on here all mad that I stopped losing 5 lbs a week, but you know what I mean.  Just keep plugging away.  It will come off.